Brave Enough To Get A Tattoo? Try One Of These London Parlours

Will NobleBrave Enough To Get A Tattoo? Try One Of These London Parlours

You may feel a little prick. Thousands of them, in fact.

Tattoos might be traditionally associated with, say, the sailors of Limehouse or the Hell's Angels, but these days it's a mainstream art. London is studded with so many parlours, it now has its own guide. Here's a selection of photos and quotes from that guide.

Henry Hate tattoos a client at his Old Street shop

"When you are getting something as intimate, expensive and fucking painful as a tattoo, the experience is as important as the outcome, so I always try to make sure our clients enjoy themselves." - Scott Move, Parliament Tattoo, Finsbury Park"The tattoo gods have been good to me. Everything I have had in life, houses, cars, watches, clothes and most importantly my relationships, have been down to tattooing. I owe it everything." - Guy Neutron, Love Hate Social Club, Notting Hill"Getting tattooed can be quite scary. I remembered the first time I walked into a tattoo studio, I was so scared that I barely got through the door before I turned away." - Nikole Lowe, Good Times, Shoreditch"Tattooing someone is a lot like having sex with them because it is physical evidence of how good you are. If they return, you rocked it. If you didn’t and you gave them the clap, they're going to tell all of their friends and they'll all avoid you." - Henry Hate, Prick"In some ways, even though the studio is based around tattooing, my ambition is that as it grows it could once again represent a community, a lifestyle, and something more than just a place to get tattooed." — Maxime Plescia-Buchi, Sang Bleu, DalstonHe'll appreciate it laterLove Hate Social Club, Notting Hill"Tattooing is really interesting because it is one of the few professions that hasn’t been taken over by big companies. I can’t think of another profession where you don’t have lots of big chains or brands at the top." - George Bestall, Cloak & Dagger, Shoreditch"The space was going to be 'surreal' because we like surrealist art a lot. Deno likes Magritte more and I prefer Max Ernst. Also, Deno loves traditional tattooing and I respect it a lot too so we created something which reflects both sides of us." - Jondix, Seven Doors Tattoo, Aldgate